Although blind and paralyzed, but “Leprosy King” Baldwin IV, the king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, still showed up on the battlefield. He was the terror of the Muslims in the 12th century.
Portrait of King Baldwin.
The history of the world has recorded many examples of extraordinary talented and heroic kings. If Pharaoh Ramesses II alone repelled tens of thousands of Hittite ambushes, later, Alexander the Great dared to lead several dozen horsemen to attack the ranks of hundreds of thousands of Persian troops.
There is one thing in common between these two wars, they are both healthy, good at fighting and the enemy is… farmers – do not possess much fighting skills. However, for someone who was so sick that he couldn’t hold a sword with his dominant hand, and had difficulty walking and talking, doing such a heroic thing was hard to believe. However, there was one person who did. It was King Baldwin IV – the leper king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Baldwin IV – the great leper king of Jerusalem (scene from the movie Kingdom of Heaven).
The question is how can a leper king become a defender of the faith, a savior of the Christian world or a hero of the temple knights? Based on motivations or the kind of willpower that a seemingly disabled person who knows he “can’t see until 30” (he only lived 24 years, in fact) can defend Jerusalem from Saladin – who was known as the Immortal Warrior of Islam during all those years of his reign?
Until the end of his life, when he was completely blind and paralyzed, Baldwin IV still made his enemies not dare to attack the Kingdom of Heaven even though their forces were many times larger and stronger. It was indeed an effort beyond human limits.
In 1161, Prince Baldwin (the son of King Amalric and Queen Agnes) was born in Jerusalem – the Kingdom of the Crusaders, a holy land for both Christians and Muslims.
From a very young age, Baldwin displayed the qualities of a warrior. The boy is very intelligent and studious. The king’s personal teacher, William of Tire, described the Prince: “He learns things very quickly and is handsome too. As time went on, he was filled with hope and masterfully developed his natural abilities. At handling horses, he proved to be even better than the older men, and in addition, Baldwin had an excellent memory and a taste for old stories.
William of Tire realizes that the prince knows no pain
One day, William of Tire discovered that the future king did not know pain, the boy did not cry despite being pinched by other children. At first, William thought that the nine-year-old prince was just acting tough and brave, but upon closer inspection, he discovered that Baldwin had completely lost feeling in his arm – a symptom of leprosy .
At that time, people feared this disease because of the horrible complications of the appearance that occurred to the patient. The Saracens (the word that Europeans used to call Muslims) asserted that the disease was Allah ‘s punishment on the head of the infidels who dared to take over their Jerusalem.
Even Christians think they are punished by God. And when the ruler of Jerusalem contracted the disease, they knew that the Kingdom of Heaven was about to fall.
Many historians believe that the king actually wore a protective mask like this, not just in movies
Four years after William of Tire discovered the young prince’s illness, King Amalric died and Baldwin officially became king of Jerusalem at the age of 13. Because the king was so young, Miles of Plancy – the closest relative. of the king became Regent.
Not long after that, Miles was killed and Raymond of Tripoli became his replacement. In 1175, Raymond of Tripoli signed a peace treaty with Saladin – the leader of the Ayyubid dynasty and also the leader of the Muslim world at that time to keep Jerusalem at peace, at least for a few years.
But Baldwin was well aware of his role. At the age of 15, when other children were still wandering around, he became a powerful king.
In 1176, the young king officially took over all power of the kingdom of Jerusalem. 2 years have passed since the painless boy became king, the leprosy has actually gotten much worse. It tormented Baldwin’s body at all times, causing him to gradually become disabled.
Baldwin IV and Saladin (scene from the movie Kingdom of Heaven)
Despite these difficult conditions, not accepting and surrendering to the cruel fate and even more unwilling to accept the unreal peace grant from Saladin, the king immediately canceled the peace treaty with Saladin. He knew that, if he accepted the mediation, leaving Saladin’s army free to roam the surrounding lands, sooner or later Jerusalem would fall.
Baldwin personally led his army to conquer the lands around Damascus, which caused Saladin to abandon his assault on Aleppo and retreat to the defensive. Also in 1176, Baldwin defeated the armies of his nephew Saladin in Lebanon and Syria.
In just the first few months, Baldwin proved to everyone that he was tactically intelligent. Instead of defending Aleppo, Baldwin attacked Damascus, causing Saladin to abandon his campaign. In the martial art of Sun Tzu , this is the famous “besiege Wei and save Zhao” scheme.
Image of the Byzantine Empire
Soon after, Baldwin planned to attack the Egyptian stronghold, where Saladin’s power was concentrated, located in Cairo, Giza, Luxor… Realizing that Jerusalem was weak in naval warfare, the young king ended alliance with the Byzantine Empire.
The plan seemed to go smoothly when William of Montferrat – the king’s brother-in-law and the most important element of the campaign fell ill and died. Then, in turn, the king himself became ill, which brought the campaign to a halt.
The Byzantine court expressed concern and decided not to agree to support this military campaign anymore. The campaign to destroy Saladin collapsed and it caused the Crusaders to never again harm Saladin’s stronghold. Unfortunately, the only one who saw the importance of this campaign, King Baldwin, was unable to grant his wish.
Saladin – one of the most famous conquerors in world history also feared Baldwin IV
Historians later said that, if Baldwin succeeded, the kingdom of Jerusalem would last a long time, not fall so quickly. World history would have changed a lot if Saladin had lost the battle that day.
More than a genius mind and vision, what made Baldwin IV such a great king was his unbelievable bravery at the famous battle of Montgisard – where the 16-year-old king defeated the team. The elite army was ten times more numerous.
After the Egyptian campaign was cancelled, Philip of Flanders sent his army to the northern border of Jerusalem and Raymond of Tripoli joined. This puts Jerusalem in an extremely dangerous position.
The king was seriously ill and the soldiers had all left. Saladin of course could not miss the opportunity that Allah gave him, he brought 26,000 elite soldiers and the Egyptian guard Khassaki to Jerusalem.
26,000 Saracen troops march towards Jerusalem…
On his deathbed, Baldwin ordered 600 temple knights and a few thousand local soldiers to fight Saladin. His health was so bad that it was thought he was about to die.
Bernard Hamilton, author of “Baldwin IV – the leper and his heirs ” described the king at that time as ” half dead” . The king’s army compared to the other 26,000 Muslim warriors was like a candle before the storm. Realizing that, Saladin ignored King Baldwin and headed straight for Jerusalem.
On the way to Jerusalem, Saladin attacked Ramla, Lydda, and Arsuf and spread his army over a very large area, plundering it, thinking that the king could do nothing about the crippled army.
…and clashed with King Baldwin IV and the Knights Templar at Mons Gisardi
The army of God encountered Saladin at Mons Gisardi, near Ramla. This took Saladin by surprise. He hastily gathered his army, arrayed before the enemy.
From afar, the army led by Baldwin IV remained silent, the king ordered the giant Cross to be placed in front of the front line. And the king himself, even though he was carrying a terrible disease, still struggled to get off his horse, knelt before the cross, prayed to God for victory, and stood up straight to call the soldiers.
While Saladin was still gathering his troops, the army of God came rushing in like a flood. The king, with his right hand bandaged, unable to hold, swung his sword straight into the middle of Saladin’s army.
Baldwin bravely joins the battle
Historian Stephen Howarth reports : “There were 26,000 Saracen warriors there, facing a few hundred cavalrymen, but the Saracens were mostly killed, others fled. Saladin escaped because he was riding a racing camel. The young king with his bandaged hand was always at the head of the ranks of the people of God, with Saint George at his side .”
It is said: “The Cross shone like the Sun. It was an unimaginable victory, the echoes of the First Crusade reverberated. But it was also the last time an army of Muslims was defeated. defeated by such a small force.”
Knight Templar
The immortal warrior of Islam was terrified and if it weren’t for the strongest camel, Saladin would have been captured in the middle of the battle. His 26,000 elite soldiers were smashed without any armor, the famous Khassaki guard was killed almost all, Saladin’s nephew was also slashed to death in the battle.
Baldwin continued to pursue Saladin until nightfall before retreating to Ascalon. 10 days later and 10 days of heavy rain, Saladin’s defeated army now has only more than 2,000 men, must fight hunger and thirst as well as steal the way to Egypt.
Thanks to possessing the strongest camel, Saladin escaped the battlefield
Years later, Saladin still referred to the defeat as a terrible disaster. However, after returning to Egypt, Saladin ordered no one to talk about this defeat and to treat it as a victory, he only withdrew.
The Battle of Montgisard made the name Baldwin IV legendary. Throughout the Christian kingdoms the young king was hailed as God’s savior, defender of the faith…
The glory of victory did not soften the rapidly spreading leprosy. Meanwhile, Baldwin IV’s successor had no one. In 1183, the king was officially blind, his limbs were so damaged that he could not do anything.
Baldwin IV appoints Guy de Lusignan as consul. However, soon after, Guy de Lusignan proved too weak in unifying the classes and did not dare to confront Saladin despite holding the strongest army ever in the holy land – the army of Baldwin IV himself built. Thus, the burden of an entire kingdom fell once more on Baldwin IV’s shoulders.
Portrait of Guy de Lusignan
At the end of 1183, the wedding of the king’s sister – Isabel held in Kerak attracted Saladin’s attention. Immediately, the Muslim leader sent troops to surround the castle while everyone was celebrating.
Baldwin IV, despite being completely disabled, ordered his entourage to put himself on a stretcher and bring Kerak to the rescue. Frightened by this extraordinary effort, while also aware of the young king’s excellent military leadership, Saladin ordered a retreat. In 1184, Saladin once again besieged Kerak and soon had to withdraw because Baldwin IV appeared on the battlefield, although on a stretcher.
Until the last years of his life, the name Baldwin IV remained the terror of Muslims
On May 16, 1185, Baldwin IV’s soul met God. He was cremated at the Church of the Grave in Jerusalem. Two years after the king’s death, Guy de Lusignan was defeated by Saladin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem fell to the Muslims.
The 24 Years of Baldwin IV’s Life is an epic like those recorded on the roof of the Church of the Tomb: Per Crucem and Lucem (From the Cross to the Light). The young king’s faith kept Jerusalem at peace during all these years of his reign.
Later historians allege that what killed Baldwin IV was not actually leprosy. He could have lived much longer than that, but the relentless battles made his wounds so infected. Anyway, it can be said that what he did during his 9 years of reign is worth more than 90 years of a peaceful life.
The kingdom of Jerusalem fell forever and the name Saladin became a Christian terror until the arrival of King Richard I (or Richard the Lionheart). The complicated relationship between Saladin and Richard makes the Crusades scene so much more interesting. And that’s another story…